Denise Mitchell

Signing up to the EU asylum and migration pact is not in Ireland's interest. What the Government is essentially doing is handing over control of decisions on migration to the European Union. Sinn Féin has always been of the opinion that Ireland, not Europe, should be the one that makes decisions on these important issues. That is why we oppose the majority of measures in this pact. The reality is …

I welcome this very straightforward amendment to Coco's Law. It makes it very clear that the crime of recording or distributing non-consensual intimate images of a person also extends to images and videos created by AI. Over recent months, we have seen an explosion in the use of AI technology distributing sexual abuse material, particularly of women and children. The use of AI bots to abuse people…

I welcome the chance to speak on this Bill. I want to acknowledge the hard work social workers, link workers and family support workers, etc., do but the reality is the public has lost confidence in Tusla over the years. We need to see steps to rebuild trust. I want to highlight concerns over the future independence of the guardians ad litem, GALs. Their job is to be the voice of the child in cou…

The staff at Northside Home Care Services are back in work today after being on strike last week and they have not ruled out further action. These workers provide supports to some of the most vulnerable in our community. Some of the staff I met on the picket line in Coolock have been doing this job for over 25 years and they were not included in the pay deal for section 39 workers because they wer…

We have had years of underinvestment in water, electricity and public transport. One thing annoys people no end: listening to Government Ministers boast about how well the economy is doing when basic services that should be world-class are in a state of despair. On the broader issues of water and repairs, I will give Irish Water some credit. Its communications for upcoming planned works have impro…

Here we go again. The Government has decided to kick the can down the road on a common-sense Bill. It knows there is no way that anybody would oppose this Bill so instead it decided to delay it by nine months. Government talks about all of us working together. Yet here we have a positive piece of work and instead of supporting it going to Committee Stage and teasing out any of the issues he has, t…

They have had seven months.

Like any technology, there are pros and cons when it comes to the use of artificial intelligence. It has the potential to be incredibly important in areas like healthcare, science and technology. We saw that at the Young Scientist exhibition last week in the RDS, where many of the projects demonstrated to us how it could be a force for good. A school from my own constituency, Gaelcholáiste Reachra…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Mercosur trade deal and I welcome the farmers to the Gallery this evening. As an urban TD I have to put on the record that I have been contacted by a large number of constituents who have raised this trade deal with me in the run-up to last week's vote. They were concerned about two things, namely, food safety and the damage to the environment. I was shock…

Hear, hear.

The line Minister's statement on Friday night when she spoke about the three-month pause was tone deaf. It did not address any of the concerns of patients and their families and the issues that they raised about this ill-thought-out and cruel decision. The reason for the postponement is very clear. It is not because Sinn Féin warned the Government in October about the difficulties that this would …

What about the blister packs?

We need to get in on this.

I will start by thanking our Coast Guard and rescue teams across this island. In my own constituency of Dublin Bay North, I know the huge amount of work they do, the really dangerous conditions they sometimes have to go out in and the number of times they have prevented disasters on our coasts and in our seas. Being honest, I could not believe what I was reading in terms of this new roster system…

The IAA and the Department of Transport need to make sure the safety of our rescue crews is a top priority.

I welcome the Bill as a common-sense measure to help protect victims of sexual violence. I thank my colleague Deputy Carthy for bringing it forward and my colleague Senator McCormack for her involvement. Deputy Carthy and his team worked on it as a direct response to the engagement they had with victims and advocates. One of those women spoke really honestly about her fear and dread knowing that t…

I will begin by welcoming the Minister of State's very passionate contribution but I have to say that here we go again, another Bill tabled by the Opposition and another delay by the Government. The exact same thing happened last week with Deputy Ó Snodaigh's Bill on the arts. I will not get started on the presidential voting rights because, as the Minister of State knows, there has been delay aft…

I want to raise the compensation scheme for those who were injured in the Stardust fire in 1981. It is very welcome that the first section of the scheme for the families who lost loved ones in that fire has been completed. However, lawyers for the survivors are getting very frustrated because they have not had an update on the redress scheme that was committed to well over a year ago. It is 44 yea…

I thank the Tánaiste.

I support this very simple Bill, which seeks to recognise comedy as an art form that should be supported by the Arts Council. Every week, in this city and across Ireland, we have comedians on stage in pubs, comedy clubs and theatres. They are really important when it comes to keeping venues, particularly smaller ones, open. Irish wit and humour is well known across the globe. I heard one Irish co…

I wish to start by saying that I am a strong supporter of schools having uniforms. It takes a lot of pressure off families and it keeps the fashion shows and the competition out of schools. It is a leveller. Every time parents are asked about school uniforms, survey results always say they support a uniform. We are in a cost-of-living crisis and everything is getting more expensive, however. Every…

Hear, hear.

Gaelcholáiste Reachrann has been raised in the House many times over many years. I will not speak to the conditions of the school as they are well-documented but I acknowledge that the Minister, her officials and representatives of Dublin and Dún Laoghaire ETB visited the school in late May and gave a commitment that this would go to tender for our new permanent school build. Since then, we cannot…

I could say I am frustrated by the Minister of State's response but I do not know how to put it in words. For 24 years, Gaelcholáiste Reachrann has been fighting for a new build. We have had promise after promise. I stand here as a representative of Dublin Bay North and a parent of two children in that school. I am expressing the frustration of the parents in the school. We were promised ground wo…

So it was a photo op.